Senior Attorney, Corporate & Commercial

Location

Preference is Corporate Headquarters located in Kingsport, TN.  Will consider candidates for St. Louis, MO office.

Role Description

The Senior Attorney, Corporate Securities and M&A will report to the Senior Corporate Securities Attorney and Assistant Corporate Secretary. This role is designed for a lawyer with approximately five years of relevant experience who can support a broad range of domestic and cross-border strategic transactions in a global company environment, including acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, minority investments, internal reorganizations, and related subsidiary matters. The position will take meaningful ownership of transactional workstreams such as due diligence, drafting and negotiation, closing execution, post-closing follow-up, and coordination with regional counsel and internal business stakeholders. In addition to its M&A and transactional focus, the role will also support recurring corporate securities matters, including public-company compliance, proxy and annual meeting support, debt offerings and related financing activity, stockholder communications coordination, and other disclosure-related work as appropriate. The role may also provide targeted support to the commercial and procurement teams on contract matters when needed, while remaining primarily a strategic transactions and corporate legal role.

Responsibilities

•    M&A, Joint Ventures, and Strategic Transactions. Support core legal workstreams for acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, minority investments, internal reorganizations, and other strategic corporate transactions. Manage due diligence, draft and negotiate confidentiality agreements, letters of intent, purchase and sale agreements, joint venture agreements, merger and ancillary documents, and coordinate signing and closing mechanics, closing conditions, post-closing deliverables, and integration-related follow-up. Provide practical legal guidance that balances risk with commercial objectives and escalate significant issues with sound judgment.

•    Cross-Border Transactions and Global Coordination. Support cross-border transactions and identify legal, structural, and execution issues that arise in a global company environment. Work closely with regional counsel and local advisors to coordinate jurisdiction-specific requirements, approvals, and closing steps. Help ensure that cross-border legal risks, timing considerations, and global subsidiary implications are identified early and managed effectively throughout the transaction lifecycle.

•    Corporate Securities and Public-Company Support. Provide legal support on recurring corporate securities matters, including securities law compliance, proxy and annual meeting support, and transaction-related disclosure matters. Assist with debt offerings, private placements, and other financing activity as applicable. Partner with senior legal colleagues and relevant internal teams to help maintain accurate, timely, and practical public-company compliance processes.

•    Global Subsidiary and Governance Coordination. Partner with the Corporate Secretary function and related governance support roles to align transactions with board and committee approvals, global subsidiary maintenance, entity documentation, and post-closing legal-entity actions. Support subsidiary transactions, entity simplification projects, and related records with a high degree of accuracy, confidentiality, and discipline. Help ensure governance and transaction processes remain coordinated and well documented.

•    Outside Counsel, Corporate Development, and Cross-Functional Partnering. Manage outside counsel on assigned matters, including scope, quality, timing, and budget discipline. Work closely with corporate development, finance, treasury, tax, accounting, real estate, procurement, HR, and business stakeholders to move matters forward efficiently and resolve issues early. Serve as a practical legal partner on deal structuring, diligence priorities, negotiation strategy, and transaction execution.

•    Process Improvement and Legal Technology. Contribute to templates, playbooks, and process improvements that make transactional and securities work more efficient, consistent, and scalable. Familiarity with AI-enabled legal tools and workflow automation is valuable, particularly for due diligence, document review, knowledge management, and contract process support. Experience working alongside IP counsel is also beneficial, especially for transactions involving technology, licensing, innovation, or other IP-rich assets.

•    Commercial and Procurement Contract Support. Provide selective support to the commercial and procurement teams on contract matters as business needs require, particularly during periods when transaction volume is lighter. This support may include review, drafting, and negotiation of commercial agreements or procurement-related contracts.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications
•    Juris Doctor from an accredited law school and active license to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction are required. 
•    Candidates should bring approximately 3-5 years of relevant experience in corporate securities and M&A law, gained in a law firm, in-house legal department, or a combination of both. 
•    The role requires meaningful experience supporting securities compliance matters and corporate transactions, drafting and negotiating transactional documents, managing due diligence and closing processes, and handling multiple concurrent matters under time-sensitive conditions. Strong writing, analytical, communication, and stakeholder-management skills are essential, along with the ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise mature judgment.

Preferred Qualifications
•    Experience advising a public company on securities compliance, insider trading administration, stockholder communications, annual meeting or proxy support, and transaction-related disclosure matters is preferred. 
•    Prior in-house experience is valuable, as is experience working with subsidiary governance, entity-management processes, and outside counsel management. 
•    Candidates with exposure to financing transactions, treasury support, or a background in accounting, finance, or corporate governance may also stand out.

Core Competencies
•    Success in this role requires strong legal drafting, disciplined issue spotting, practical judgment, and the ability to balance legal risk with business priorities. 
•    The strongest candidates will show sound commercial instincts, strong client-service orientation, clear written and verbal communication, and the ability to work effectively across functions. 
•    The role also requires strong organization, calm execution under pressure, discretion with sensitive information, and a continuous-improvement mindset.

Tools/Systems Experience
•    Candidates should be comfortable with Microsoft Office, Outlook, Teams, and standard legal-document workflows. 
•    Experience with document management systems, virtual data rooms, and contract, matter-management, or e-billing tools is helpful. 
•    Familiarity with governance, records, or legal-entity systems is also useful because the role interfaces regularly with securities, subsidiary, and approval processes.

Notice

Eastman will not accept applicants for this offered position who require visa sponsorship, including those whose status is F-1 visa OPT who subsequently would require ongoing visa sponsorship.”